Alheri is TOTALLY loving right now...

Ok! so we decided we were going to start blogging about the things we do, the life we live and things we love/influence us, kinda started with the designers we like etc so we will randomly post a blog about designers we like, but for right now... just enjoy reading about our inspirations, and in between remember to check out our stores and keep buying Maali... Be blessed...


This is a list of the top 5 things/people/shows...anything really, I'm loving right now. They also influence my style and my person. 


1. Erin Silver ( played by Jessica Stroup) in the hit TV show 90210....her style..her outfits...her personality (awesome!!!)..she dares to be different and it works for her.

Jessica Stroup as Silver in 90210

2. Vintrals.Vintage stuff and  floral stuff...do the maths..Vintage + Floral = Vintral..(hehe)..I think the combination of both is very powerful and chic..check this out..

A collection of Vintral stuff

3. Tan accessories, Tan shoes, Tan bags..they just make some boring outfits look sophisticated and cool.

Absolutely loving the tan men's shoes...

4.  The Big Bang Theory..(Hilarious!) I could actually marry Sheldon and laugh forever..lol. Set in Pasadena, California, the show is centered around five characters: two roommate Caltech geniuses, experimental physicist Leonard Hofstadter and theoretical physicist Sheldon Cooper; their neighbor across the hall Penny, an attractive blonde waitress and aspiring actress; and Leonard's and Sheldon's equally geeky and socially awkward co-workers and friends Howard Wolowitz, an Aerospace engineer and a non-PhD from JPL, and Rajesh Koothrappali, a particle astrophysicist postdoc also working at Caltech. The geekiness and intellect of the four guys are contrasted for comic effect with Penny's social skills and common sense. If you have never seen it...start watching now...its actually really funny..... 

a clip to convince you...

5.  Urban Outfitters (the stores)...if you know me really well and you go into one of the stores.. you will probably be like.."this store is so Alheri.." lol. I love everything about the stores. From the way they are designed, to the way the clothes are arranged, the music, ALL the clothes..absolutely everything..all the stores are full of awesome creativity...

a collage of the interior and exterior of different U.O stores

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The Gweimen Center: A Self Sufficiency Center for Widows and Orphans of HIV/AIDS

Maali started in 2009 with a dream; a dream of fashion as a gateway to pursuing our passion and also helping local sewers in Africa. It was also created to increase economic opportunity for women in developing countries and to also provide an avenue for sustainable income, by bringing the designs and clothes to the western market, and in turn selling our T-shirts and other brands in Africa.

Maali also aims to help children and women in Africa by donating a portion of our profits to chosen non-profit organizations; Gweimen Center is one of such organizations.

Consequently, when you purchase any Maali clothing you “bless a child”. 

About the Gweimen Centre

Everyday, 6000 children are orphaned from HIV/AIDS worldwide.

Gweimen, in the Nigerian language of Jaba, in Kaduna State literally means peace and tranquility, shalom, a place of safety and welcome.

The Gweimen Centre resulted from the efforts of a community to provide for the needs of the most vulnerable populations in the path of the AIDS pandemic sweeping Africa: widows and orphans.

In Kwoi, Nigeria, the survival of these children is threatened daily, as they struggle for basic nutrition, education and social acceptance.
For each of these children, there is a family - a widow, a grandmother, an uncle - that struggles to support them without access to adequate employment opportunities, health care and basic resources.

HIV/AIDS, poverty and hunger threaten the lives, the families and the communities of people around the world. In Kwoi, people have joined together to address these challenges in their community and make a difference.

Out of this, the Gweimen Centre was born, a sustainability centre to help widows, orphans, and other community members help themselves through education, health care, economic empowerment and basic necessities.


What You Can do to Help
Buy Maali and a percentage of profits from the sale of Maali products goes to Gweimen Center.


Make a tax deductible donation today and help this community's dream for a better life come true! Your generous contribution will make a difference!  You can bring hope to widows and orphans of HIV/AIDS.


The Gweimen Centre is a tax exempt organization [501 (c) (3)]. They take their responsibility seriously to wisely manage funds, enabling greater help for more people. Ninety-five percent of all donations go directly to the people of the Gweimen Centre.

Please contribute today, online or by mail.

US/UK- www.gweimen.org and click donate or  
Gweimen Centre

P.O. Box 165
La Fox, IL 60147

Nigeria- donate @ Gweimen Centre Ltd/GTE UBA account 0040-011-000045-5

Your donation will provide:

• 3 meals a day for orphans
• Training for widows to be able to support their families
• Healthcare for HIV+ people
• A community center where people can grow and build hope

To know more about Gweimen Center; go to www.gweimen.org

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"Fashion is in the sky, in the street; Fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening."Coco Chanel

The way we live...

Happy New year to you all... Its been a year and some.... since we started Maali and we have been blessed and overwhelmed with the support so far. Thanks to everyone who has bought...lived... and given Maali. These are just some pictures of us @ random times living life and wearing maali. Stay Blessed x

Alheri wearing Ghana Print dress on the way to church

Linda @ the Nigerian 50th anniversary celebration

Linda and Alheri (left) wearing Maali women's and men's wear

Alheri in pink Maali vest and tutu skirt

Alheri in Maali T, scarf and purple tutu skirt

White Soul of Africa Maali T

Amina wearing Maali lace dress

Purple African print dress n purple George dress by Maali

Blue dress by Maali

Green short dress by Maali

Pink Dress

Alheri in Cream Maali lace short dress (2nd left)

Amina wearing soul sista Maali T

Kash Money wearingTuk Ham Festival red T

Red skirt @ Leeds Fashion week

Christmas Day Party '09

@American University of Nigeria all wearing Maali

Maali yellow and red rara skirt

Maali Tie Back green skirt

Alheri wearing Maali scarf

Soul Sista Red Top

Brown Soul Sista Top

Family wearing Maali

 Maali White T

Fela Blue T

Male Soul of Africa and Chungai by Nature T

African Print and Aso-oke embelished dress

Black Soul Sista top

White and Green Chungai by Nature T's

Short pink Maali dress with stones

I Love Abuja purple Maali T

Cool Soul Maali T

Maali scarf

Brown Soul Sista Maali T

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We Like... Duro Olowu...

Hard to find his biography... So this is all I could come up with...
Duro Olowu, 44 is a Nigerian, London based Designer who began his career as a lawyer before getting into design. His signature dresses with vivid prints and bright colours caught the eye of the US and British vogue editor. He eventually won the 'new designer of the year' award at the 2005 British Fashion Awards. He is influenced by both the culture of Lagos, Nigeria (his home town) and London, England.

Last year he was given the International Designer of the Year Award at the 2010 Africa Fashion Awards, In Johannesburg.

Duro Olowu fans include Princess Caroline of Monaco, Iman and Michelle Obama.

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M.I.A....Music, Art, Fashion, Politics...

Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam (born 18 July 1975), better known by her stage name M.I.A., is an English songwriter, record producer, singer, rapper, fashion designer, visual artist, and artist of Tamil Sri Lankan origin.

An accomplished visual artist by 2002, M.I.A. came to prominence in early 2004 through file-sharing of her singles "Galang" and "Sunshowers" on the Internet^. She released her Mercury Prize-nominated debut album Arular in 2005. Her second album, Kala, was released in 2007 and gained her mainstream chart success. She has been nominated for two Grammy Awards and an Academy Award.

Her compositions have been noted to encompass various genres, often with political lyricism and artwork. M.I.A. has described her music style as being "other". In addition to her work as a graphic designer, providing artwork and photography for releases and as a director of music videos, she has also experimented with documentary film and in 2008 released a collection of her fashion designs. She is the founder of the record label N.E.E.T.

In 2009, Time magazine placed M.I.A. in the Time 100 list of "World's Most Influential people" for having "global influence across many genres".

Mathangi Arulpragasam was born in Hounslow, London, England to Kala and Arul Pragasam. Her family is of Sri Lankan Tamil descent.When she was six months of age, her family moved back to their native Sri Lanka. Motivated by his wish to support the Tamil militancy on the island, her father became a political activist.Her stage name, M.I.A., stands for Missing In Action.

Because of the Sri Lankan Civil War, the first eight years of her life were marked by displacement. During a period when her family temporarily resettled in Sri Lanka, the war escalated further and her school was destroyed in a government raid.In 1986 she, her older sister Kali, younger brother Sugu, and mother moved back to London where they were housed as refugees. She learned English in the late 1980s, on a council estate in Mitcham, South London.

M.I.A's first public exhibition of paintings in 2001 at the Euphoria Shop in Portobello Road, London, featured graffiti art and spray-paint canvasses mixing Tamil political street art with images of London life and consumerist culture. The show was nominated for the Alternative Turner Prize; (Jude Law was among early buyers of her art); and a monograph book of the collection was published by Pocko, simply titled M.I.A..

Politics and global ideas are prominent in M.I.A.'s art. On the political nature of her work she has said, "I have to be true to that--I can't take certain things away. I do have a political background.In a 2009 Coachella interview M.I.A. said, "The Third World deserves freedom of speech just like everyone else. We want to fight the battle to say what we want, whether to be serious or just make fun of ourselves. Thats what 'Worldtown' is about, that's what 'Paper Planes' is about. It's what people in the third world live through.
We are inspired by M.I.A and her combination of music, fashion, art and politics.

Visit her website on http://www.miauk.com/

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New Gingham Men's Shirts @ Maali

Gingham is on trend for Spring/Summer 2011. Our new Men's shirts reflects just that... hurry to the Maali Shop in Jabi Abuja and grab one of our new tailor made, well crafted designs made just for you in time for the new year and remember when you buy Maali, you bless a child...

Maali Gingham Shirts @4000NGN each 

Maali Short Sleeved Gingham Shirt @ 4000NGN

 Crisp long sleeved White Shirt

Blue Shirt with Gingham collar and sleeves 

Multicoloured Gingham short sleeved shirt

...more shirts in store...

Also watch out for the new intricately designed Kaftan collection by Maali

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